Elementary Particle Physics Experiment at Yale and Impact on BSC: Z-zero Bosons

For the past five years I have collaborated at Yale on an elementary particle physics experiment. One of the fundamental carriers of the weak nuclear force between leptons (electrons and neutrinos) and quarks is the Z-zero particle. Our experiment probes fundamental Z-zero bosons using precision laser spectroscopy and several other purely quantum mechanical clever tricks to “coax out” effects that under normal circumstances cannot be seen. With our Z-zero probe machine we look deep within the nucleons that make up the nuclei where the weak force, perhaps the most mysterious of the forces in the Standard Model, accounts for particles over anti-particles and nuclear decays, and is the sole known source for fundamental symmetry violations in nature. As professional work is explicitly tied to how and what we teach as professors, I will talk about this research and the impact it has on BSC in the classroom and my lab